Tuning in to the Top End

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RUBEN BANERJEE

September 30, 1993

ISSUE DATE: September 30, 1993

UPDATED: September 30, 1993 00:00 IST

SONODYNE is a Calcutta-based maker of quality audio equipment, and really quite small. Its share of the audio market is 3 per cent. Now suddenly, it has to compete with Sony which has launched three models through its joint venture with New-Delhi's Olympia Electronics.

"We have aimed for the higher-end of the market because the lower-end is pretty well covered by Philips and BPL," says Om Wadhwa, who runs Olympia. Wadhwa says that Sony will wait out a year before introducing its full range of products.

Sonodyne owner Ashok Mukherjee is not unduly worried. "Now is the time for niche marketing and with our strong research base, we have a headstart," he says. Good systems are status symbols and with mtv the demand for quality sound is gaining.

Accordingly, from Diwali on Mukherjee plans to supplement his current range of Uranus 3 (price Rs 16,000), SCR 1050 and SCR 1080 Amplidecks (price Rs 6,000 and Rs 8,000) and one of its kind Direct Drive Turntables (price Rs 5,500) with super-premium equipment. Then there is the Music Centre and the Subwoofer systems-the latter likely to be priced around Rs 40,000. Also in the pipeline are high-tech speakers.

"We are aiming at state-of-the-art sound systems," says Mukherjee. This, he adds, is essential for brand loyalty. Mukherjee does seem to have some support. "I have had a Sonodyne set for close to 10 years and it still plays the sweetest music I have ever heard," says Prabahan Sanyal, a New Delhi-based advertising executive. Still it's not going to be easy, as Sony is one of the best-known brands in the world.

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